COMP- 199:
EXCURSIONS IN COMPUTER SCIENCE

Course Summary

This is a seminar format course intended for freshman and other beginning students. The topics are chosen to encourage critical discussion of fundamental ideas. The course is intended to provide a survey of selected topics in computer science. Possible topics are computability, complexity, geometry, vision, AI, pattern recognition, machine models, cryptography and security and social implications of computing.
We will also explore concrete questions such as: What are the origins of computation? Are there things that computers cannot do? How do we build internet search engines? How do you teach a robot to walk and talk? How can we safely communicate confidential information? How can computers help cure cancer?
The course is appropriate for both novice and experienced computer users. It is intended for any student with high-school-level math and science background who has a keen interest in learning how the science of computation is impacting the world in which we live.